Olivia Munn joins 'X-Men: Apocalypse'

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Cate Blanchett plays Hela in "Thor: Ragnarok."

Hide Caption

1 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Robert Downey Jr. brought Tony Stark's Iron Man to life in 2008. There have been two sequels, and Iron Man is a major star in "The Avengers" films.

Hide Caption

2 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Brie Larson be take on the role of Captain Marvel in a film set to release in 2019. Larson won the best actress Oscar this year for her performance in "Room."

Hide Caption

3 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Our favorite movie superheroes – The first "Avengers" movie, released in 2012, is the third highest-grossing movie of all time -- and its sequel, "Age of Ultron," was released in May 2015. On Friday, "Captain America: Civil War" showcases the split between the Avengers as they fight one another.

Hide Caption

4 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Chris Evans, who first donned red, white and blue for 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger," continued his fight against evil in 2012's "The Avengers" and 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." He reprised his role in "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Captain America: Civil War."

Hide Caption

5 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

"42" star Chadwick Boseman plays the comic-book hero Black Panther, who will be key to the plot of "Captain America: Civil War."

Hide Caption

6 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Mark Ruffalo got to wear the Hulk's stretchy purple pants in "The Avengers" and its sequel. Eric Bana and Edward Norton played the character in two previous movies: "Hulk" (2003) and "The Incredible Hulk" (2008).

Paul Rudd stars as "Ant-Man," also known as Scott Lang, a superhero who can change his size.

Hide Caption

9 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Chris Hemsworth played Thor in the 2011 film of the same name. There was also a sequel in 2013, and Thor, of course, is one of the Avengers.

Hide Caption

10 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Oscar winner J.K. Simmons' over-the-top performance as J. Jonah Jameson in the original "Spider-Man" trilogy endeared him in the hearts of comic book fans. He will return to that world starting in 2017 as Batman's ally Commissioner Gordon in the two-part "Justice League" movies.

Jared Leto's disturbing take on the Joker has already set fire to social media more than once. Audiences will see him in "Suicide Squad" in the summer of 2016.

Hide Caption

14 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Aunt May is not exactly a superhero -- but she's certainly super in the world of Peter Parker and "Spider-Man." Marisa Tomei plays the important role of Parker's adoptive mother in the new "Spider-Man" film.

Hide Caption

15 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

French actress Elodie Yung is villain Elektra in Netflix's "Daredevil."

Hide Caption

16 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

"The Walking Dead" star Jon Bernthal is fan favorite Punisher in the second season of Netflix's "Daredevil" series.

Hide Caption

17 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Olivia Munn will play the popular mutant Psylocke in this summer's "X-Men: Apocalypse."

Hide Caption

18 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Charlie Cox portrays Daredevil in the Netflix series.

Hide Caption

19 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine in every "X-Men" and "Wolverine" movie since they began in 2000. He announced that he plans to retire the character after "X-Men: Apocalypse" and the third "Wolverine" solo film.

Hide Caption

20 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Following in Tobey Maguire's footsteps -- er, spider webs -- Andrew Garfield starred in 2012's "The Amazing Spider-Man." He reprised the part in a 2014 sequel but will not return in future Spider-Man movies.

Hide Caption

21 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Baron Mordo in the upcoming "Doctor Strange."

Hide Caption

22 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Chris Pratt was best known as a TV actor before he bulked up and rocketed to movie stardom as Star-Lord (Peter Quill) in the 2014 blockbuster "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Hide Caption

23 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Mike Colter is superhero Luke Cage/Power Man in the Netflix series "Jessica Jones."

Hide Caption

24 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Viola Davis is Amanda Waller in the upcoming "Suicide Squad."

Hide Caption

25 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Krysten Ritter landed the role of Marvel's "Jessica Jones" in the Netflix series.

Will Smith will play the antihero, gun-toting Deadshot in "Suicide Squad."

Hide Caption

28 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Idris Elba appeared in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" as his "Thor" character, Heimdall.

Hide Caption

29 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

The late Christopher Reeve, pictured, wore the red cape in 1978's "Superman" and its three sequels. Brandon Routh took over in 2006's "Superman Returns," and Henry Cavill starred in 2013's "Man of Steel."

Hide Caption

30 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Following Michael Keaton in 1989 (and 1992), Val Kilmer in 1995 and George Clooney in 1997, Christian Bale drove the Batmobile for all three of the Batman movies directed by Christopher Nolan.

Hide Caption

31 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Ron Perlman went red for Guillermo del Toro's "Hellboy" in 2004 and "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" in 2008.

Hide Caption

32 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

"Captain America" wasn't Chris Evans' first time battling evil in a form-fitting blue suit. Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis were the "Fantastic Four" in 2005. They teamed up again in a 2007 sequel.

Hide Caption

33 of 34

Photos:Our favorite movie superheroes (and villains)

Mikey Kelley, James Arnold Taylor, Nolan North and Mitchell Whitfield voiced the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2007's "TMNT." Everyone's favorite pizza-eating reptiles returned this year in a live-action reboot.

Hide Caption

34 of 34

Story highlights

Olivia Munn will play Psylocke in "X-Men: Apocalypse" film

Psylocke trended for hours on Twitter after director Bryan Singer announced casting

(The Hollywood Reporter)Add another fan-favorite character to the cast of next year's "X-Men: Apocalypse," with director Bryan Singer announcing via Instagram that Olivia Munn will play the telepathic Psylocke in the follow-up to "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

Singer revealed that the "Newsroom" actress would play Betsy Braddock in the movie (presumably before the confusing and complicated plot twist that saw Psylocke change from a Caucasian former supermodel to a Japanese ninja for no immediately obvious reason).

The comic book's Psylocke was created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe for the British "Captain Britain" series, where she appeared throughout the 1970s and '80s, before joining the X-Men in 1987's "Uncanny X-Men" No. 213. Since that time, she has been a mainstay both of the main team and spin-off series including "Exiles" and "X-Force."